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This is f**king barbaric and we are letting this stuff continue in our names.
Excuse my launguage, but my friend almost became a Gold Star Mom on the 27th....but for the grace of god or whatever, she didn't. Our government is creating Gold Star Moms at a very rapid clip and the Iraqi people that they are killing or turning into people who have to fight to survive is obscene.
What are we willing to do to stop the inhumanity and war crimes? --Cindy
A Message from Cannon Fodder in Iraq
by CindySheehan Mon Jan 09, 2006 at 02:55:27 PM PDT
This is from a friend of mine whose son is in the Army, stationed in Baghdad.
And the Peace Community is accused of not supporting our troops???
CindySheehan's diary :: ::
*WARNING* FYI.....This is pretty graphic.....
I was thrilled yesterday to wake to an email from my son. The last
correspondence I had from him was the email on Dec. 26. Then 2 guys in his
battalion were killed and one wounded on the 27th (the wounded soldier has
since passed away from his injuries). All communications were shut down
until notification of their deaths by the Army to their families....but
still no word from my son. I knew that he would contact us as soon as he
could...but that didn't make the waiting any easier. He emailed yesterday
to reassure me that he was "fine"....which of course I was glad to hear.
Then he called me later in the day.....
It was wonderful to hear his voice....be able to talk to him. I asked him
about the incident that ended those 3 guys lives.....ages 26, 23, and 20.
He said he hadn't planned on telling me about it, but then knew that I
already knew about it...aware that I had received the email from the
military explaining why we may not be hearing from our soldiers. I asked
him if he knew what happened....he hesitantly told me....."Yes".....he was
there when it happened! That....I wasn't prepared for. He wanted to spare
me the details....but my son and I can and do talk very frankly about
everything.....I knew he needed to talk to someone about it....so I told him
not to hold anything back. I told him I already know he is in harms way, I
know there are horrible things going on there....things I can't even
imagine.....but I wanted to know....and I wanted him to be able to talk
about it with me.
[Editor's Note: This next paragraph was removed from the original Daily Kos posting
--whether by Cindy Sheehan herself or others, we do not know]
He said it was their first mission since arriving in Baghdad. A group of
them had to walk through a field to a "destination". He said just in front
of him....about 100 yards was an explosion. Someone had stepped on a buried
mine that exploded.....they were walking in a mine field! He said nothing
was left....except an arm....a leg.....fingers..... They continued
walking....then a second explosion.....the next two victims. They radioed
for a helicopter that was not to come. So they were instructed to turn back
and walk BACK thru the field......9 hours they walked......4 1/2 one
way....4 1/2 back....nothing accomplished.....3 lives lost. The tension and
fear that your next step, placement of your foot would be you.....your
friend at any moment.....
This is our war..........
Why not take a high school class out on the edge of the expressway and have
them run back and forth....who gets hit does...who's lucky enough not
to....well is just lucky.
It was horrifying knowing he witnessed it, knowing he was filled with fear
and images that will stay with him forever.
I asked him about the Iraqis.....the Iraqi soldiers he was with. "Their
crazy" was his reply. He said that morning a dog was running down the
street and an Iraqi man beat it to death with a shovel then threw it on the
side of the road. He said, "That's normal here."
I immediately knew when I started talking to him that he had a cold.....he
said, "Yeah, I do, but I'm ok." I asked if he was eating good....what did
they have for them to eat?....American food....Iraqi food? He said they get
ONE meal a day. A "meal" that is either a 6 inch cold pizza, or well, he
had 5 cold chicken wings one day, oh and a hotdog one day....well a lone
hotdog....no bun. One meal a day!!! Prisoners in this country are required
to receive 3 full meals a day in prison or it's infringing on their
rights??!!! He said they have 2 microwave ovens that are broken and a
toaster oven that doesn't work well....the government is apparently spoiling
them! Our sons and daughters are in the U.S. military.....fighting for our
country.....have committed no crimes and this is what they feed them???
It's like the Twilight Zone or some parallel universe.....a bad dream that
upon waking makes no real sense....
He took his first shower yesterday.....his first since Dec. 20. That was
good he said.
The Army is wondering why no one wants to join??? Why no one wants to go
back??? Are the American people really that dense to think that we are
doing the right thing.....doing good? The government wants to spin this
into that they're protecting us from terrorists.....payback for 9/11. Osama
Bin Ladin is no where near Iraq! So is anyone on his trail?
I know they're in harms way.....thousands of miles away from home and family
but can they for God's sake treat them better than a prisoner....than an
animal? You mistreat an animal in this country and all kinds of
organizations are on your back.....you go to jail. Our government is
mistreating our soldiers and we stand back and watch......well not really
because we don't see THIS on the news. We only see what they want us to
see.
Most of the guys that joined were promised to be able to go to college....on
the government...and could start even while in the military. my son was
included in this group. He was met with....you don't have time for college
you can go when you get out. But....our prisoners are receiving college
degrees while serving their sentences! Is it me or is it just backwards??
Micah is already skinny as a rail.....how do they expect a 20 yr old boy to
live on what they are feeding them? Guess it doesn't matter much....why
waste food on people you make walk thru mine fields? Doesn't this sound a
little like the Holocaust?
So.....my son says....he's "ok". I'm sorry to vent but THIS HAS TO STOP!!!!
PLEASE!!!!!! Email, write, call your congressmen, state
representatives....etc. Go to some of the websites I have listed
below....read the stories of the people....one after another..... I will
email the links again to find your state officials. EDUCATE YOURSELF!!
I don't want to wait over the next year for a knock at my door....and I
don't want one more mother, wife, family member to either. These Iraqi
people apparently have no regard for life.....theirs, their women and
children, ours, even animals. WHY ARE WE THERE??
And I voted for Bush.....TWICE! You don't see the Bush twins in Iraq.....no
manicures or shopping sprees.
Don't want to ruin your day.....just want to get you thinking.....and MAD!!!
Send what you can to our troops....they definitely need it...apparently
especially FOOD!!!
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone and everyone you can! I
feel helpless.....I want to jump on a plane like that 16 yr old from Florida
and grab my son and bring him home.....
PLEASE VISIT THESE WEBSITES:
www.bringthemhomenow.org
www.stopthelie.com
www.unitedforpeace.org
Gold Star Families for Peace: www.gsfp.org
Military Families Speak Out: www.mfso.org
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/iraq/casualties/facesofthefallen.htm
WHERE TO SEND PACKAGES TO OTHER SOLDIERS:
www.anysoldier.com
www.give2thetroops.org
www.treatanysoldier.com
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/1/9/165527/5738
Sheehan Urge Supporters to Take Action
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Activist Cindy Sheehan told supporters at a peace forum Saturday that troops would get out of Iraq if millions of U.S. citizens took the simple step that she did outside President Bush's vacation home last summer.
"Anybody could do what we did in Crawford, Texas. We just went down and sat down," Sheehan told the crowd of several hundred people, with Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn in the front row.
She urged them to lose their apathy and do something. "We have to get so freakin' fed up with what's going on that we all go and sit down," Sheehan said.
Sheehan, a Berekley resident whose 24-year-old soldier son died in Iraq, attracted hundreds of anti-war protesters to her makeshift camp near Bush's ranch in August.
"These people, they're not going to change unless they see us out in the streets," she said at the forum that organizers said was among dozens of town hall-style events held across the nation.
Penn, an early opponent of the war who drew criticism for his visit to Iraq, said he is buoyed by recent efforts in Congress to rein in the president's powers and bring troops home, and by the outraged response to disclosures that the government had wiretapped without obtaining warrants.
"When we said, 'Listen to us' - they're doing it through covert surveillance," Penn joked. He read his brief remarks from a single crumpled piece of paper and said it "probably looks like the administration's war plan."
Deborah Johns of nearby Roseville, who heads Northern California Marine Moms, said most people support the troops in Iraq. However, she said the president and news media have done a poor job showing the troops' progress.
Johns led Sheehan opponents on a 21-state caravan to Bush's ranch last fall.
"I saw thousands of people who came out to thank our men and women," Johns said in a phone interview Saturday. "I don't think that sort of grass-roots effort is out there that Cindy Sheehan would like people to believe. It's a fantasy."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PEACE_MOM?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
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| Message from Iraq Cannon Fodder --Cindy Sheehan | Log-in or register a new user account | 8 Comments |
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